In a small, poor family on the island of Madeira, a mother learned she was expecting her fourth child. The family was already struggling to make ends meet, and she felt she could not handle another mouth to feed.
She asked her doctor for an abortion. He refused, telling her she was young and healthy enough to have the baby. Desperate, she tried to end the pregnancy on her own, using an old folk remedy, running until she physically collapsed. Nothing worked.
The pregnancy continued, and months later, a baby boy was born into that same crowded, tin-roofed home. His father worked as a gardener, and his mother cooked and cleaned to help support the family. Life remained hard, but the boy discovered an early love for football.
He trained relentlessly, moving away from home as a preteen to chase his dream. Talent scouts noticed him quickly, and by his teenage years, major clubs were already competing for his signature.
That baby boy his mother once tried not to have grew up to be Cristiano Ronaldo, one of the greatest football players of all time. Today, his mother says she believes it was God that kept him here.
